Between announcing a price hike for Game Pass Ultimate and changing its plans to ensure that Premium subscribers don’t get day one access to Xbox-published titles, Microsoft isn’t exactly faring all that well lately. While every tier now benefits from Xbox Cloud Gaming, a free tier is allegedly incoming.
The Verge’s Tom Warren reports that this tier allows accessing certain owned titles without a Game Pass subscription, including those available via Free Play Days and Xbox Retro Classics. However, it will feature ads, with sources reporting two minutes of pre-roll ads following a recent test. While there’s currently no limit, Microsoft is allegedly experimenting with offering five hours free monthly and allowing one hour per session.
The plan is to launch this free Xbox Cloud Gaming tier through a public beta with a full launch supposedly coming months later. Alongside supporting PC, Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One, it will apparently be available for web browsers and handheld devices. As always, stay tuned for a proper announcement in the meantime.
This sounds like an interesting development for Xbox Cloud Gaming! It will be intriguing to see how the free tier with ads might change the gaming landscape. Thanks for sharing the update!
the integration of ads will impact the overall gaming experience. It might attract more casual players who are hesitant to commit financially. Plus, if done well, it could offer a unique way for developers to promote their games directly within the service.
You make a great point about ads potentially appealing to casual players. However, it could also lead to a divide among hardcore gamers who prefer an uninterrupted experience. Balancing these interests will be key for Xbox in maintaining its loyal user base.
to a mixed experience for dedicated gamers who might find the ads disruptive. Balancing ad frequency and gameplay could be crucial for keeping both casual and hardcore players satisfied. It’ll be interesting to see how they approach this!
That’s a great point! Balancing ad frequency will definitely be crucial to maintaining a positive user experience. It will be interesting to see how Xbox implements this, especially since a free tier could attract a wider audience who might not be willing to pay for subscriptions.